It's London marathon week! Here's our last #MarathonMondays story, all about Zoe, one of our amazing donors who is going to be running the marathon for the first time.
A Liverpool lifesaver is taking on the Virgin Money London Marathon 2015 for the Anthony Nolan charity, to thank the charity for giving her the chance to save a stranger’s life.
Zoe Thirsk, 28, from Liverpool, joined the register in 2005 when someone in her hometown of Sheffield needed a donor for a bone marrow transplant.
Blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan matches selfless donors like Zoe to people in desperate need a of lifesaving transplant.
Years later, Zoe got a call that she never expected - she could be a potentially lifesaving match for a stranger who needed a transplant.
Zoe says, “After I signed up to the register I just forgot about it and went on with life. Anthony Nolan tracked me down and called me to say I was a potential match.
“When I found out I was the match I saw it as good news, it’s great that this person got a match, whether it was me or not. I would have felt helpless if I wasn’t the perfect match.
“My first thought was it would be a painful procedure but this wasn’t the case at all. I found out that it’s just like giving blood and that eased me. Medicine is just progressing so quickly and donating through your blood is the most common method now – I was pleasantly surprised.”
Zoe taking part in the Colour Run
Zoe went on to donate her stem cells in March 2011 in Sheffield.
Zoe is now preparing to run the London Marathon 2015 for Anthony Nolan to raise funds and awareness of the donor register and to thank the charity for giving her the chance to save a stranger’s life.
Zoe says: “The marathon has always been on my life ‘to do’ list and I’m so happy to be running for Anthony Nolan and my recipient. I will be thinking of the person who received my cells a lot and that will get me round.”
Zoe in her Anthony Nolan running vest
Mary Campbell, Head of Events at Anthony Nolan, said, “Zoe has already done something incredibly selfless by donating her stem cells, so it’s remarkable that she is now saving more lives by running the marathon with us this year. Mile by mile, our team will be running to save lives.
The funds they raise will enable us to recruit potential donors like Zoe to the Anthony Nolan register – any one of them could be a lifesaving match for someone with blood cancer.”
To donate to Zoe’s VirginMoneyGiving page go to: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/zoethirsk
If you're aged 16–30 and in good general health, you can join our register and could end up saving a life one day like Zoe. Find out more at www.anthonynolan.org/register